host: dennis is on the line from toledo, iowa. hello, dennis. caller: tell a nit -- tell newt gingrich to zip up, then we will not have abortion. in iowa [unintelligible] who slept with prostitutes. guest: guest: michelle has been unequivocal in her support for life from conception until natural death. she has never wavered from that. she has been a strong pro-life leader, but we have other candidates who have been

proabortion in the past, or they have different views on the life issue. you cannot look at a candidate who has ever been pro-abortion, because how are we to know they are not going to get the nomination and go back to the middle and change their stance on that? we cannot have any candidate that has ever even caught remotely that abortion is the way to go, and michelle has been unwavering on that. host: matt miller has an article, the action of 100,000 idiosyncratic voters has come to dominate the news nationwide, yet this is like letting a single small city plan pivotal role in the selection of our next president. you have entered the i was circuit a couple of times. is it necessary? is it important?

guest: it is part of the process, and that is what we have. the great thing about having the iowa caucuses is that iowa is really the heartbeat of america. it is the pulse of the people. in terms of over half -- in terms of republican, the idea and make up of the people of iowa is reflective of members of the conservative, republican party. these people in iowa are very hard workers. they love their families. they love their faith. they are strong workers. they believe in marriage between a man and woman. at least on the republican side, it is important for them to go through this process. a few of the candidates decided to opt out of the straw poll. as they come here and engage in the process, it gives the iowa voters an opportunity to bet all the candidates -- to vaet all te

candidates. to speak to them face to face and listen to where they stand on the issues and what they talk about at the breakfast table or the dinner table, and take down what they have to say, and let the electorate hear what the candidates have to say. the people are the bosses when someone is elected president. the president or any candidate deserves to give them the respect of listening to what they have to say, because the people of iowa, the people of this country are the bosses, and the candidates out there are vying for a job. it is important to go 3 the process. every candidate does need to come out here and visit with the people. tuesday night is going to be an exciting time. it is not your typical election, not your typical primary, but it is part of the process, and we look hard -- we look forward to

participating on tuesday. >> we will be live in iowa between now and tuesday, and tuesday night we will be live beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, 7:00 p.m. central time. we will have a caucus live on c- span1 and another on c-span2. caller: i support and respect michele bachmann. remember mitch daniels and tim pawlenty, they stayed in that race with such fluidity and volatility. they will pretty much finished off ron paul. gingrich is just a lobbyist, and

romney is basically running. romney.cally rompin michele bachmann must accuse gingrich of hijacking the tea party. thank you very much. guest: in terms of mcdaniels and pawlenty, running for president is an excruciating endeavour, annette involves every -- and ticket involves every amount of your energy. while the straw poll in -- while the straw poll did not work out a way he would have preferred, i completely understand his decision to get out. it is exhausting and excruciating, and for mitch daniels, clearly he made the decision of what is best for his family. it cannot hold anything against anyone who has made the decision to not get into this fray,

because it is taxing on the individual as well as their family. take that as a consideration as well. there is a lot that goes into this process. it is possible for any candidate, but one thing michelle has done, whether going against newt gingrich or mitt romney, she has done her best to remain positive. we have not put up negative ads on television, and we do not intend to. what she has done in every television appearance and debate, she has gone overboard to show the contrast between she and the other candidates. she has done a fine job of showing that contrast. you mentioned newt gingrich. she has done that time and time again in terms of back when he was serving in congress, but more recently, the current issues that we see as black eyes on his record, receiving money from freddie mac. he week critic here we have the

country that is to blame -- here we have a country that is to blame for the housing crisis, and he has pocketed millions of dollars for that. he is the poster child of a washington insider. he is what is wrong with what is going on in congress right now, and he is making millions of dollars from what is going on in washington. he claims he is not a lobbyist. well, he certainly is. he has been an influence peddler in washington ever since he left here. whether he wants to say he is a registered lobbyist is his prerogative, but he has been an influence peddler in washington ever since he left congress. she wants to do away with the pay for play situation going on in washington, and he is the poster child of that. host: mike is on the line from ames, iowa. go ahead. caller: why is unemployment

through the roof? it seems like the whole world has gone under. [unintelligible] host: mike, we cannot hear you. what is your question for alice to work? caller: where is the majority of the campaign money coming from? guest: the great thing about our campaign is that the bulk of the money comes from small donors. our average contribution was roughly $42. that goes to show that she is getting money from average, everyday, hardworking american people. she is not getting money from corporate fat cats or large binders. she is getting money from hard- working people. a lot of our money we get from

online contributions. we have some fund-raising events, but the amount of money that she received from individual donors is one where there is no way anyone could ever say that she is trading financial contributions are campaign contributions for favors down the road. she takes great pride in that. you see other campaigns, particularly governors that are running for president, that you can directly traced campaign contributions to future positions in their cabinet or future favors down the road, and we cannot have that type of pay for play situation is something we cannot have at the state level, and certainly in washington. in terms of her contributions, she takes great pride in knowing that it comes through small contribution from every day, hard-working americans across the country.

caller: quite an amazing list of things that ms. bachmann is going to do. i am just curious how she is going to do this alone. there is a house and senate there, you know. guest: that is a great point, but she has made a name for herself and washington as someone who does not take no for an answer. she has bought strong and hard for the issue she believes in. a lot of that is doing away with big government. she has stood up against her own party on several issues, and what she plans to do as president chris make sure that we have to bring both sides together. we have to bring republicans and democrats together, but ultimately she knows she is representing the people of this country, and she will have the will of the people at her side. whether or not the republicans or democrats want to stand there

line -- stand around and draw a line in the sand, michele bachmann is going to do what the people want. we saw that with several issues that have come up over the past few years. people will flood members of congress e-mail and phone lines and certainly go to washington if necessary to let their voices be heard. everything she does as president of the united states will be what is in the best interest of the united states people. members of congress will have no choice but to rally together and do what is best for the people. >> if she does not finish in the top four or five, will she dropped out of the race? >> we are looking at finishing at the top here in iowa. we have been on a 99-count toward a last several days and have had tremendous support. many people are still undecided.

as michelle had the opportunity to meet with them, they are switching over to our campaign. the support we had prior to the straw poll was encouraging, and as she won the straw poll, we have continued to build on the organization we have and the ground support we have. that will be key on tuesday night. between the organization we had in the campaign and the continued support across the state, we expect to do extremely well here in iowa on tuesday. caller: a couple of comments, i have been listening, and i was for herman cain, but in the media drove him out, so now i am for michele bachmann and rick perry is a close second. my opinion, ron paul and huntsman are in the wrong party. being a combat vet, i would like her take on iraq.

i think obama pulled us out and we are going to lose another war. i was in vietnam. congress made us lose that war. i am sick of america losing wars. host: alice stewart. guest: i could not agree with you more. michelle has picked up quite a bit of herman cain's support here in iowa and south carolina and across the country. a lot of that is the fact that michelle is a strong leader in the tea party movement. she is the leader of the house tea party caucus, and tea party members are allowed and proud. that is a great support that she has. we have had several key party organizations that have come out and endorsed her. we are encouraged by that. we welcome the endorsement and support from people across the country. the tea party is a group that michelle has involved with from

the very beginning, and she is proud of what she has done to help that organization grow. we are thrilled to have an endorsement from any tea party members. to your point on the american military, she has been very clear that she supports our military. she wants us to remain a strong country, and she believes that american exceptionalism is something she is going to fight tooth and nail for in congress. she knows, as ronald reagan said, america is going to achieve peace through strength. the only way we can do that is if we continue to support our military, and she will do that wholeheartedly. >> how often do you run into the other candidates while traveling on the campaign trail? >> the past several days, there are a lot of small towns we go to and we end up staying at the same hotel, so it makes it interesting.

in a small town, there are only a handful of hotels. we run into them and their staff quite often. all the candidates are fantastic people and they all get along, and their staff members are great. it is part of the fun of running for president or being on the campaign, getting to know the other candidates and their staff. these days, as more of the candidates are in state, as we get close to the -- seeing them on a daily basis. >> alice steward is in downtown des moines and our studio there. caller: the united states overthrew a iranian leadership with a coup d'etat. would kill thousands of people

and stole their oil. we installed saddam hussein in the 1970's and did another unprovoked attack against iran in the 1980's and killed millions of iranian people. how do you justify going to war with iran and american propaganda, when all we want to do is still there oil? guest: that is a great point. we don't need to be a slave to any other country when it comes to our energy, or any other area of the world for dependence on any type of oil or energy. michelle will be vehement on energy independence in america. without that, we will be at the beck and call of other countries. that is one of the thing she wants to do as president, tapping into the natural resources that we have an become energy independent. as long as we depend on other it

nature's -- other nations for our energy dependence, we will not be the great country that we can be. that will go along way to making sure that it is not only an economic issue but a national security issue. becoming energy independent will go a long way to not only helping us economically, but in national security. that is one thing she is very strong about. >> just a few minutes left with alice stewart. caller: i would like to applaud the lady for her diligence and her interest regarding her candid it, michele bachmann. i feel that michele bachmann is not the heir apparent in the republican party. i think the last woman who ran for a presidential nomination

was hillary clinton, and i don't think she measures up to her political prowess. however, i like the woman and i think she is a very fine person and means well, but i don't think she will make it. i got in on the subject about my enthusiasm, and i am 76, the same age as ron paul. coming from a 76-year-old person to another 76-year-old person, i don't see how this man has the enthusiasm that he seems to have. he is not the heir apparent, either. neither is romney. i think newt gingrich is the only one who is heir apparent, and as you can gather from what i am saying, the heir apparent

has the best chance. guest: i appreciate the call, and i strongly disagree with you. he will not be the heir apparent -- he will not be the nominee of the republican party. legalizing illegal drugs is not what the report of predict what the republican party stands for. in terms of michelle, that is not the first time people have said that. people have said she would not win the straw poll, and she did. she is big in her determination and she has traveled the state and country and shown people her spine.

she does not take no for an answer. she has the background, the record, and a consistent conservative record that people in this party want. and she has been staunch on issues in terms of our economy in washington. as i said, she stood up to her own party on the economy -- in terms of whether it is balancing the budget, standing up against tarp, or the stimulus, she has stood firm on issues that will help our economy and she does not take no for an answer. but the issues people are concerned but now -- jobs, economy, and standing up to obamacare, she has been clear that she has the ideas that will help turn the economy around. i encourage you all to go to michele bachmann.com and read her solution about creating a framework for turning the economy around and creating jobs. it is not a one-size-fits-all package that will dramatically turn the economy around, but a series of events that needs to take place and measures that

needs to be implemented to help create certainty first and foremost in our economy in order to create jobs, and in order to help businesses invest in their own businesses and the economy. these are the things that will create jobs and turn the economy around. she has been disheartened -- as a business owner she understands what it is like to make a payroll at the end of the month, what it is like to have to provide thrive and prosper and we do not have that right now. it did not underestimate michele bachmann because she is determined to not only win iowa but also go on to the other states and be the nominee. host: alice stewart is the communications director for the michele bachmann campaign. thank you, alice stewart. >> it with the iowa caucuses tuesday, january 3, c-span cameras or following the candidates had been throughout the state.

every morning, political guests are taking your calls on our "washington journal" program. you can stay up-to-date with new features and videos from campaign stops. piglets to see what the candidates have set on issues important to you. read what the candidates, political reporters are saying on sites like facebook and twitter, all at c-span.org /campaign2012. >> coming up, our coverage continues with mitt romney. we will have live coverage at the campaign rally from ames and iowa, starting at 6:45 p.m. eastern, here on c-span. tonight we will have events from earlier today, starting at 8:00 eastern. rick perry at a meet and greet in cedar rapids. then michele bachmann at 8:50

eastern. at midnight eastern, and more from the radio program with ron paul. "road to the white house and i will, here on c-span. -- "road to the white house in iowa. >> with the primaries later in the month, our series of the contenders looks back at 14 candidates who ran for president and lost but had a long-lasting impact on american politics. tonight, vice president and civil rights advocate hubert humphrey. friday, george wallace, and on saturday, senator and congressman from south dakota george mcgovern, followed by ross perot. the contenders, every night on c-span. >> this morning we talked with the chairman of the republican party of iowa about the caucuses.

host: we are pleased to be joined by it matthew strong, chairman of the republican party of iowa. what is the role of the republican party in the caucus system? guest: good morning from the hawkeye state. a beautiful, unseasonably warm morning. for those who may not know how the caucus process worse, the state has no official role. it is an election entirely run by the republican party of iowa. we are charged with organizing acoming up next, the gop chair of 1774 precincts around the state on the night of january 3. that includes overseeing everything from the recruitment of volunteers to running the precincts, until the press

coverage will preference poll. we oversee the balloting, the voting, the counting, the tabulation, reporting, everything that is done through the staff of the republican party with an immense volunteer network around the state. host: you called it a preferential preference poll. no delegates are chosen? guest: we did this every two years, whether or not there is a presidential election bid is how republicans and democrats organize. we have discussions about the various issue platforms that we want to see brought and it going back to 1972 was the first year at one of the caucuses where they decided to add a preferential preference poll to try to get greater attendance at these caucuses. has grown into what you see today.

host: how many republicans do you expect to turn out to deny? guest: that of the great question. in 2008 we had just under 120,000 iowa republicans turned out, which was an all-time high. there are a lot of variables that go into turnout, including the weather. we of the midwest, it is winter. right now the forecast looks very good. variables include how many first-time caucus the worst turnout. a couple of things i pointed to right now, how 2008 is different than 2012 -- one, a lot more republicans in the state of iowa than there were in 2008. we had 33 straight months of republican voters registration gains. and looking at the straw poll in august, where we had nearly 20,000 iowans show up, and the largest attended straw poll in the history of our straw polls. that included the fact that mitt romney, rick perry, newt gingrich, were not aggressively participating in the straw poll.

thirdly, i look at the first opportunity any american has to cast a ballot to start the process to replace barack obama as president. some of those datapoints point to what could be a robust turnout for republicans january 3. host: if you would like to talk to the gop chair from iowa -- it has been chairman since january 2009. we set aside our fourth line for iowa residents -- and you can send an e-mail or tweet. this is something you have probably been asked 100,000 times, basing it on matt miller's column or his op-ed piece this morning in the "washington post."

no way to pick a president -- the actions in a idiosyncratic state has come to dominate news nationwide. why iowa? guest: the quadrennial attack, we go through with every cycle. i would encourage people to get out here and see the process up close. it demands that candidates actually come to our communities, come to our coffeeshops and our farm co-ops and that every day hard-working iowans look them in the eye. the roll is incredibly vital. look at public polling right now. the faith that americans have in their leaders in washington is

at an all-time low. the fact we still have places like iowa require somebody wants to be president to physically be here and let an everyday citizen estimates of question about what they want to leave our country, is good for the process. because if that we do not have small states like iowa and new hampshire that require the retail politicking, all we had is a move toward the national primary. if we have a national primary, all that will be is a national fund raising process on who can raise the most money to have the most tv ads and they will be for the disconnected from the electorate. that is a broad view of what i think iowa and new hampshire should continue to play the role. more specifically, when you're on the ground, you see how seriously iowans take the process. they are not shy, not starstruck by a ceo, but governor -- they will ask a question and they expect an honest answer.

i think it is good for the process. at the fact that the caucuses require some degree of dedication -- it is not a primary where you pull your car up outside of the polling place, you run in and out and go on with your daily life. you are required to sit there and talk about the issues, listen to candidates' speeches -- and hopefully before caucus night you have gone to a couple of town hall meetings. and really study and size, and get a personal feel. i do not think we get there if we go to a system where it is just the larger state, national primary, where the only place you see candidates is through tv ads. host: why are you a republican? guest: i believe in the individual and all power really emanates from the individual, and back -- and that of the republican philosophy. that we need to empower individual to make decisions for themselves, and the proper role of government is really to have a society where i am free to make decisions with my money, free to make decisions on how to raise and educate my children, and i don't believe all the citizens -- decision should emanate from the government -- whether it is

state, federal. and i believe the republican block -- party best embodies the principles of and powering individuals to make the decisions best for themselves and their families. host: matthew strawn is our guest. douglas on the democrats' line. you are first. caller: hello, and good morning. host: please, go ahead. caller: my name is douglas. i have just one question. actually two questions. one, the republicans seem to be bent on getting rid of barack obama. they say they want him to be a one-term president. i know that is probably the norm -- just come out ok, we will get rid of this republican or we will get rid of this democrat. but i have never seen them bend so hard on this one at present. i think there is something

involved. i even venture to say there might be some racism involved. and secondly, the republicans support big business, these huge companies that make all of this money. and they make money, yes. they create these jobs. but they would not have any money if they did not have anybody to work. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. we talk about how republicans talk about making barack obama a one-term president. i think america needs to make barack obama a one-term president because when we go into the general election, it will be a referendum on his failed leadership. here in iowa, one thing we are seeing in the caucus process is the prosecution of the failed record. $15 trillion debt and the president wants another $1.50 trillion added on top of that.

we see a private sector economy not creating jobs because of the uncertainty. i know you mentioned big business -- but when you look at a place like iowa, two-thirds of the jobs here are created by small businesses and right now on our main streets and there is tremendous uncertainty with a small businesses that are not hiring, not investing, not buying equipment manufactured by american workers. that uncertainty comes from financial regulations where we've got tightening lending requirements with our community bankers. it comes from the regulations used to implement obamacare. i talked to one business owner on the eastern part of iowa a couple of months ago, he said he is doing well but he is not expanding the business because its accountants cannot tell and how much obamacare will cost the company. as long as we have uncertainties as well as the uncertainties about the tax structure, as long as we still have the uncertainties, the small businesses that really drive the economy in places like iowa, and i am sure in places like pennsylvania, doug, we will continue to see a economy that is struggling to get i am

hopeful when we have a robust debate with a strong republican candidates standing up for republican principles -- because it is not enough to just talk about the failure to barack obama -- but the nominee has to make americans understand why conservative republican principles are the right ones to address the challenges facing america. host: does it cost to face a caucus? guest: there is no cost to attend a caucus. and just so your viewers understand, any iowa resident who is eligible to vote to participate in the caucus as long as they are registered republican. there are two ways to participate. if you are already registered republican, your name will be on the roles that will be provided to the precinct leaders. the show what, see your name, you have a seat and wait for things to begin. if you show up and you are not already registered as a republican and consistent with state law, you have to show either an iowa driver's license or a photo i.d. with

accompanying proof of residency such as a utility bill, and then you can register as a republican, so long as you are a resident from the precinct. we do allow outside observers. most precincts allow outside observers. mostly they are given an observer or visitor badge. they cannot stand or speaker to dissipate, but it is really one of the most transparent process is in politics -- american politics. and even the way the votes are counted. in each precinct, once the presidential preference vote is taken, which usually you just write the surname of your preferred candidate won a slip of paper and drop in the ballot box -- they are usually counted in full view of the entire caucus. each presidential campaign has an opportunity to have one observer to observe accounting. they have the ability to have an observer to over here the

phone call: the results. even when my staff calculates and aggregate's the seventh -- 1774 results, there is someone in the room to observe that process as well. it is an incredible process that is open and transparent, not just to iowans but someone who has an opportunity to visit. host: from page of "the richmond times-dispatch." do you require such a thing. guest: we do not give you disney to be a registered republican and an eligible voter in the state of iowa. host: michigan. john is a republican. caller: i just had two quick comments about american imperialism and hegemony in the middle east. we conducted a coup d'etat in 1953 in iran, killed thousands

-- host: i am sorry. that caller just got through in the last segment. we will move on to jackson, tennessee. independent line. caller: i have two points. one is about ron hall. the first one -- there is really a global and lead people to keep us divided so they can keep us under control -- global elite of people. both parties are pretty much the same, so people have the illusion that is what they are, when they are not. the second one is ron paul. he has been misquoted constantly so he had less of a chance. overwhelmingly the people really follow what he believes in -- which is the constitution. he never said he wanted to legalize drugs, but they said he wanted to give the states the authority to legalize it or not. but people have this fear that people will do drugs.

but you have all these thousands of people dying from alcohol because the government gets taxes on alcohol, which is legal. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. since you this is dr. paul, one thing where his message is resonating is more limited government, reducing spending, talking about cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget. i think that is a message that has resonated with the electorate who believes washington is spending way too much of our money, and the fact we are borrowing money from nations who certainly did not have america's best and just that hard. you talked about a divided america. it is quite disappointing when we look at our current president. if you look at the electoral strategy he seems to be developing, he wants to put americans against each other with rhetoric that involves class warfare, that certain classes of america -- pitting certain classes of americans attend each other. if we are going to get through

our challenges, it has to be done together. it is something americans have always done through the years, which is pulled together when the time demanded. i hope as we go to the general election next year, that the president puts the class warfare rhetoric aside, stopped hitting americans into each other and really show leadership. unfortunately his actions have not matched his words, which is why i'm confident we will see at the end of this republican nomination process, that we will have a candidate who can start talking but the solutions and provide the bold leadership to get americans working together to resolve the challenges facing the country. host: jesse is a democrat from chicago. caller: good morning, a gentleman. i have a question. how do you feel about a lot of the right wing media saying if ron paul won the iowa caucus, the iowa caucus itself is irrelevant? how do you feel about that? if he did win, would you stand by the people of iowa's voices

and stand behind him yourself? host: as -- guest: of course as the chairman i will support the gop nominee, and especially a state that is a swing state. iowa will likely determine the care of the perot vote to the next president is. maybe for the viewers, you should know the chairman of the party has to be neutral. i am neutral throughout the entire process. on caucus night, i will attend my local caucus but i will not cast a vote since my office has to oversee the election. i will not speculate on what may or may not happen. but i talked earlier about the message that ron paul has that is resonating in iowa, and it is on a limited government, reducing spending, shrinking the influence of washington in the lives of americans. but also he has been on the ground building an organization behalf to get your volunteers and supporters out to 1774

precincts' on a cold winter's night -- that is no easy task. a lot of the support you see is not just driven by the message he has in iowa but the fact he has built some organizational machinery behind it as well. host: matthew strawn -- from politico this morning, moving vote tabulation away from headquarters. i am sure you have seen the story. are you worried about security with the occupy group? and why are you moving the vote tabulation away? guest: the first is more generally and broadly, of the occupy movement. there has been a small group of occupy des moines protesters involve the past couple of months in iowa, but more broadly they issued a call to arms for occupy people from all over the country to come to iowa to disrupt their is activities, including upsetting campaign

events, protesting at campaign headquarters. i believe 10 protesters were arrested yesterday outside of mitt romney's headquarters here in des moines. so, we need to take safeguards and we need to prepare for disruptions. we have done two things. first, we are working with state and local law enforcement officials to know exactly what our rights are. these are private meetings that we hold that are open to the public to attend. so, if an outside agitator ones to come in and try to disrupt one of the meetings, we have legal rights to have them removed from the premises. and why heavy duty while the occupy folks do have a first amendment right to have their voices heard, it only extends so far it does not infringe on the right of way iowan to peacefully assemble. one, we are prepared for those types of disruptions. but more specifically, to the question you asked, we also want to make sure the results

are recorded accurately and timely to not just the candidate's campaigns, but to the nation. we do have an aggregation center where we verify the results from 17774 areas, and traditionally it has done at republican headquarters but given the headquarters building has been kind of under siege, it seems, with the occupy movement, we will be doing it from a different location. but what everybody should know is that each campaign has an opportunity to have an observer, a senior staff member, and the building with republican officials, so there is transparency and there is no question about the tabulation. it is just something we will do of sight for security purposes. host: the next call comes from daryl, a republican from new jersey. caller: good morning. how are you? yes, i am a republican, and i have to say -- i can appreciate

coming on this program and espousing republican constables, but it is important that you tell the truth when you do so. for example, you said something about no job growth under this president, and the private sector has been creating jobs for 20-straight month or meant something like that and the loss of jobs has been primarily in the public sector, which sort of brings into my second point. you say the president is pitting americans against other americans, but every time it republican comes on c-span and talks about union workers and government employees as if they are some sort of a drain on society -- my sisters are both teachers, they are public sector employees, and they are dedicated, they train our young people. and so, for republicans to come on c-span and-public-sector employees, that is pitting

americans of the americans and that sort of makes the party sound like a bunch of hypocrites. host: we got the point, daryl. guest: thank you for the call, daryl. as the son of a school teacher, i certainly salute your family members. i know it is no easy job, especially these days. when it comes to winning elections, we were very successful in iowa in 2010 winning the governor's office back and a legislative majority for the first time in a number of years, and we did it talking about solutions. i do hope from candidates, that is the key to how we win presidential elections. we will aggressively prosecute the failures of the obama administration, but i still cannot think it is enough to win -- and convince americans our principles are the ones to face the challenges. i do hope you continue to demand solutions from candidate, whether republican or ring democrats, because just pointing out the problems is not going to solve them. host: akron, ohio. carry on in the independent line.

caller: iowa republicans, it is almost laughable. when you think that ron pollack is surging ahead with his racist views -- ron paul is surging ahead, with his racist views, and it seems like republicans are tolerating him. they need to listen to newt gingrich when he said the man was anti-semitic and racist. iowa, i do not think you have any credibility if you go through a process. i hope that the republicans electron paul as their candidate. guest: well, we have five days and the candidates are crisscrossing the state right now. i think iowans have the opportunity to ask candidates all of those hard questions and that is how i will play the role as vetting.

people talking about why does iowa have this when they do not necessarily predict the nominee or bring the president, but there is the winnowing process. as the candidates make their final case, we will see what happens. host: jody tweets in -- why does i would go first every election? guest: the current calendar right now was passed by both the republican and democrat national committee. they carved out four states to be early, so to speak. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada. what they tried to do is inject some sanity by having just four states go early, and then having the process with the delegate selection -- the delegates though proportionately during the march window, and then from april on, and state --

any state can be winner-take- all. we are operating by the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. there are a few states to decided to upset that, with florida moving up early, going to january 31, which forced iowa to go to january 3. we are operating under the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. host: texas. lawrence, a democrat. caller: i have two statements that i would like to address and some of the previous callers did not get to. i cannot understand why republicans continue to do is blame barack obama for all of the downfall. when you come on and make a statement that we are here to remove barack obama, what do you think american people think? is it the only reason you want

to get a republican in there, to remove barack obama? and you have to look at the candidates you have. for america to come back strong, we need the best candidates -- no matter independent, republican, whatever and they are. that is we need in office. not just put anybody in there because they are republican. i will shut up and listen to what you have to say. guest: sure, thank you for the call. it is not just about replacing a person in the white house but about replacing the principles and policies we have seen from the president. what we have seen from the president is unsustainable spending. we've got a $15 trillion debt. i've got three children -- 6, 4, and 15 months old -- and the fact that when the 15-month-old came into the world, she entered with her own personal share of $40,000 of the national debt. that is one reason.

the other is the economic uncertainty our job creators and small businesses see. i talked about earlier. we have a president that the not understand that it is small businesses, and japan ignores, here in iowa is farmers, mainstream merchants -- merchants, that create jobs. what washington does is they can create an environment -- people to take risk with their capital, buying equipment, hiring americans again. that is what republicans represent, if we get a republican in the white house that stand strong with republican principles. and as i said earlier, it is not just talking about the failure of the obama administration and his policies, but we have to talk about the solutions are. that is what we have seen in the nomination process. we have six candidates crisscrossing the state talking about their plans moving forward. each of them have different economic and tax plans, ranging from bringing capital back from overseas, as we can invest it in manufacturing and start

making things in america again. getting rid of some of the special tax loopholes that major corporations are able to use to save money that can otherwise be put to work on infrastructure, on investing in capital and personnel. so, i hope we will continue to see it from our republican candidate, but we need to talk about solutions. i agree with you. host: matthew strawn, is this your full-time job or did you have another profession? guest: this is a volunteer job. my family has a farm on the eastern part of the state just west of cedar rapids, and i am also involved in the arena football league -- iowa barnstormers, i am a co-owner. for any of your viewers who are football fans, it is where kurt warner got his start. it keeps me busy. host: did you have a winning record this year? guest: we did not. we had a rough season. 5-13.

we had to make a coaching change. but hopefully things will turn around when the season start and we had to training camp next february. host: mark from ephrata, pennsylvania. caller: i want to give a shout out for the christians to get behind newt gingrich to remind him, remember the jesus picked as disciples, the backgrounds. he picked them because he knew they could get the job done. and i want them to get behind newt gingrich. he is the man. host: go ahead. i wanted to pick up on this point because you talk about some of the individual candidates a little bit, but

what about the importance of the christian vote in the iowa caucuses? guest: there is no question when you look at the electorate in the iowa caucuses but the republicans, they are solid economic and social conservatives. mike huckabee, of course, was propelled by a social conservative evangelical christian vote in 2008. right now that is an electorate that seems to be split by a few different candidates -- congresswoman michele bachmann, senator rick santorum, governor of rick perry, newt gingrich. they seem to be battling over that segment of the electorate that has sort of split that vote like we did not see in 2008. so, i think over the long last -- next five days, you will see each of the candidates tried to coalesce that and to get into the first, second, and third spot. traditionally there are three out of iowa.

host: indiana, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a c-span junkie. retired, 50 -- 67 year old. the lady who represented michele bachmann was on before you, mr. strawn, made a statement that a congressman left her camp to work for ron paul, and he was offered a large sum of money. is it a common practice for congressman to accept money from campaigns to work and campaign for candidates? if so, it seems very disgusting to me. thank you for taking my call. guest: thank you for the call. just one clarification, i believe the individual you are talking about is an iowa state senator as opposed to united states congressman. i do not know all the underlying facts. there seems to be some dispute as to what actually transpired

yesterday regarding that particular endorsement. i do know here in iowa, state legislators, at least in the iowa senate, are prohibited from doing exactly that thing. it is not a common practice for legislators. it is a common practice to endorse and support a candidate, but not a common practice for that to usually involve compensation. host: for worth, texas. susan, democratic line. caller: i have a couple of brief statements i would like responded to. history shows that after every republican administration, there has been a big financial disaster that has to be cleaned up. and another statement is, my understanding is our founding fathers worked for religious freedom, that the pilgrims that came over, came over to get away from religious persecution. and i equate what is going on

now as extreme -- compared to extreme islam and other extreme religions. and the debt that was created was created by cheney-bush buy things they did not put on the books. and president obama did put them on the books. it makes it look bad for him, which is the things that cheney-bush did not put on the books. host: matthew strawn? guest: i think the one thing i will point out when it comes to increasing the debt on not just our current generation but future generations in washington, i think a lot of that, when you look at the debt that has accrued over the last two and a half years will bring three years of your the obama administration is frightening, starting with the stimulus that unfortunately did not stimulate anything.

i do hope we can get serious about that. and it should not be about pointing fingers, but it does lay at the feet of the obama administration. but we need to get serious about cutting spending in washington. that is what our republican candidates are talking about and making sure we do it in a way that makes sense, make government more lean and efficient and identify where the waste is an start returning some of the power back to the states and individuals so we have a government in washington that and live within its means. host: you started this segment by talking about the unseasonably warm weather. what does it mean to you? guest: it means 40 degrees and no snow on the ground. host: is there a prediction of snow before the caucuses on tuesday? guest: there is not. putting on my meteorologist hat, there is a prediction for continually mild temperatures with no precipitation. hopefully that will add to a robust turnaround. host: matthew strawn is in our temporary studio in downtown des moines. this call is from davenport,

iowa. caller: how is it going today? a quick observation. i am a m longtime republican, and when i look at this field and won in 2008, and also in 2004 or 2002 -- they all seem to be light waves. i hate to say it, but if the choice today was barack obama, any one of the republican candidates, and bill clinton, again, as a lifeline -- lifelong republican i would have to vote for bill clinton because he was the real deal. host: matthew strawn? guest: i am confident at the end of this process you will have a republican nominee who is battle tested, somebody who will not only earn but deserve your vote. host: matthew strawn, finally, this tweet -- who are you going to call this for?

-- caucus for? guest: i will check in but i will not cast a ballot. i need to remain neutral and impartial and make sure every candidate has the confidence of the state party is free of any partiality so i will not cast a ballot on caucus night. i thank you for that tweet, and feel free to follow me on twitter, @mattstrawn. host: what is your schedule over the next 3 or 4 days. guest: doing a lot of things like this. explaining what the caucus process is for those outside of our state. and i will try to around the state and catch some of the candidate event because that is how to get a feel of how they are trending. host: matthew strawn is the chair of the iowa republican party. guest: thank you, peter.

>> with the iowa caucuses tuesday, january 3, we are following the candidates and events throughout the state. political guests are taking your calls on our "washington journal" program. stay up-to-date with new features, bio information, and videos from campaign stops. you can see what the candidates have to say. and read what people like you are saying on sites like facebook and twitter, all on our website. >> coming up in 45 minutes, our road to the white house coverage continues with mitt romney. we will have live coverage of a campaign rally from ames, iowa, starting at 6:45 eastern here on c-span.

starting at 8:00 eastern, rick perry at a meet and greet in cedar rapids today. dan michele bachman's appearance on a radio program. at midnight eastern, more from the radio program, with ron paul. >> with the iowa caucuses next week, and the new hampshire, south carolina, and florida primaries later in the month, "the contenders" looked at 14 candidates who ran for president and lost, but had a lasting impact on american politics. civil-rights advocate hubert humphreys, governor george wallace, congressman george mcgovern, and billionaire businessman ross perot. every night, 10:00 p.m. eastern, on c-span. >> on this morning's "washington

journal," we talked with john hopkins university professor robert means about ethanol policy and the impact on the environment, energy, and food prices. we will watch this and tell our live coverage of mitt romney at 6:45 p.m. eastern. host: but we will take it a different direction and we are joined by robert means, a professor at johns hopkins university, and he will talk about ethanol policy and its importance in the united states. mr. means, if you would, give us a snapshot how big the ethanol industry is in the united states, how many people it employees? guest: i can't give you -- it has become very large and very politically influential because it is concentrated in states like iowa, and the other major agricultural states. surprisingly, agriculture now is a relatively small part of the iowa economy, and the ethanol industry is a major component of the -- economy.

host: how so? what does it take on the agricultural economy? guest: corn ethanol uses about 30% of the nation's corn crop -- corn at an all. corn is a commodity so it does not make much difference where it comes from. it probably have become the largest single use of corn, which has contributed, as some commentators as noted, the fact that the economy is not as big an issue in iowa as and other parts of the country because, unlike when i was growing up there, farms and doing quite well. ethanol is a not insignificant part of that picture. host: is the 30% not going to foodstuff for humans or animals? caller: -- guest: demand is still being met. it has had some impact on corn prices.

it is difficult to know how much because other factors are affecting those prices. but that much additional demand for any commodity means higher prices. that means some kind of shifts to other commodities. probably the major concern is the high prices for kern will lead to the diversion of land that was otherwise providing foodstuffs, particularly in developing countries. that is one of the major concerns with the use of corn at the law. -- corn ethanol. host: professor, how did the ethanol industry get started and why is it subsidized? guest: it got started -- henry ford's model t ran on a final and that is what he thought would be the fuel for it. a very it's a given level before -- it went along at a

very insignificant level before world war ii, and then after into the 1970's, a bit of a surge in the 1930's and in world war i. it started being subsidized in the 1980's, but what really caused it to take off was a shift in the nature of the government support, which occurred in 1995. for a few more days, corn ethanol would be supported in two different ways -- one is what we all think of as subsidies, tax credits, money. the more important support if a mandate that a certain amount of ethanol has to be blended into the nation's gasoline supply. it is that mandate, rather than the cash subsidies, driving the growth in the industry. the cash subsidies will and on december 31, but the mandate will continue. the legal obligation to put a certain amount of ethanol in the gasoline supply will still continue for another decade or

bring more. host: let us back of one more step. what exactly is ethanol? guest: ethanol is an alcohol. if you do not denature it, you can get drunk on. you can ferment the sugar into alcohol. in the case of corn -- cornstarch is converted into sugar, which is converted into alcohol, and then more steps, and then it can be used as gas and a tank of a car. host: why is it required that a certain amount of gasoline contain ethanol? guest: the original policy was primarily to support the agricultural sector in the united states. what happened in 1995, probably earlier than that, two additional policies -- one is reduced imports of oil. the second policy, which

appeared in the 1997 legislation is reduce greenhouse gas emissions. so, one of the standards for the fuels' that meet this requirement is they have to produce over their full life cycle less greenhouse gas emissions, less carbon dioxide, less greenhouse gases than gasoline. >> does it cut back on our use of gasoline substantially, on imported oil? guest: yes. it depends on what you mean by substantial. less than 10%. the mandate for 2012, i believe, is for corn f and all, about 8% of the total gasoline supply. the impact of less than that because ethanol does not have as much energy than a gallon of gasoline but it is a significant impact on our consumption. host: 202 is the area code if you would like to talk to professor robert means --

we also set a line for iowa, given the impact of ethanol on iowa. in fact, iowa the top ethanol producing state. about 3.6 billion gallons a year. nebraska comes in second. illinois in third. minnesota in fourth. comes in fifth. -- south dakota comes in fifth. i asked this in the beginning, if there is another way of asking it, how many people in iowa are employed directly as a

result of ethanol? do you know how much the industry is worth in dollar figures at all? guest: well, you can view the 3.6 billion gallons of selling someplace north of $2 a gallon, you are talking about closing in on $10 billion. host: you know how many ethanol plants that are in iowa? become a 130 or 140 concentrated -- guest: more than 130 or 140 concentrated in the northern part of the state. it two and towns where i played football against in the southern part of the state. but if you draw an east-waste -- east-west line in des moines, it would be north of the line. host: are they pretty small? guest: the most efficient ones are large. i cannot tell you the cutoff point. but the most efficient ones are the major industrial facilities. host: baltimore, we are talking about u.s. ethanol policies.

caller: i am an independent and i support the use of public funds to ethanol if it helps us. but it to be paid back once it is up off the ground. i would like to know, too, should public money be used for a pipeline for canada? i do not support that idea. thank you. i will take my answer offline. guest: the question, if i understand, is should public money be used for the xl pipeline to bring in canadian tarzan's oil? -- tar sands oil. my own view as an environmentalist is, no, because the canadian tar sands produces more carbon dioxide from oil from other sources.

it is the mirror image for part of the argument for corn ethanol, is it reduces the carbon dioxide. host: richard is on the line. where is largewood? caller: 20 miles from sioux falls, south dakota. host: are you involved in the ethanol industry at all? caller: not whatsoever. my problem with it -- it is kind of like thomas jefferson, alexander hamilton, what kind of plant you could force him to have for transportation. they are forcing a certain amount of gas to have ethanol in it. that is being pushed around by people with enough money to go to washington, become lobbyists, get paid by a certain amount of people to go to washington and make their views known. the law gets passed by a particular person who makes the

money. they need to reduce of government mandates and subsidies. that makes this economy drained. guest: two issues. one is whether it is appropriate to use government mandates to pursue a goal of reduced imports or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. the second question is whether this is a good mandate for those purposes. the first is a basic philosophical question. i suspect you and i are opposite sides of that issue. the second question -- corn ethanol mandate is not the best or most efficient way to pursue the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. perhaps the principal justification for it is that it is a path toward kinds of biofuels and renewable fuels that will not compete with food

and will have a larger impact on greenhouse gas emissions. host: how is our policy different from brazil's ethanol policy, or is it? guest: it is different today. it will not be fundamentally different in four days. today, it is different because we have this combination of a mandate and subsidies. the subsidies will go away. we will be left with the mandate. brazil also has a mandate. the mandate in brazil is 25% has to come from ethanol, in this case from sugar cane. they are reducing it as a result of the poor sugar crop. ethanol became very expensive. but it is a mandate. both the united states and brazil will be operating with a mandate. the brazilian industry is more efficient because sugar cane is a more efficient crop for making ethanol, but we are

operating in similar policy from works. host: do we export our ethanol? guest: we sometimes export some to brazil, depending on exchange rates, the price of sugar, oil, and corn. one reason for exporting ethanol is that u.s. gasoline consumption has flatland since 2007. the people who enacted the statute with the mandates assumed it would keep going up and there would be plenty of room to blend in a tunnel. we are running into a wall. there simply is not enough room in the gas and oil to put in all the ethanol they are mandated to add. as a result, some ethanol is orphaned and exported. host: it should be cheaper, shouldn't it, if the supply is bigger than the demand? guest: yes, it should be.

a couple of studies suggest the use of ethanol reduces the price of gasoline. i would phrase it in this way because that is not the result you expect from a mandate. one is from my alma mater, iowa state university, so i assume it is correct. host: the next call comes from queens, new york. caller: i have heard a wide- ranging things about ethanol. i would like to ask an expert. first, what are the negative effects of ethanol in the engine, opposed to regular gasoline? second, i have heard that a lot of ethanol policy has been pushed by congress members from heavy corn districts, supporting their local districts. thank you for taking my call. guest: answer to the second question is certainly yes. the proponents of support for corn ethanol, as with any other industry, comes from

representatives where that industry is important. on the impact to the engine, the impact on the automobile engine, this is a debating point. the limit of 10% -- there has been a limit of 10% on blending. the epa now permits up to 15% for vehicle model years 2001 and later. that is based on the findings it can be used safely. the negative side of that would be the implication that it cannot be safely used in very large concentrations. it is different in brazil, which now has flecks fuel vehicles, which can run anywhere from 100% gasoline to 100% methanol. caller: -- ethanol. caller: good morning. with ethanol being produced by corn, roughly speaking one unit

of energy goes in and 2.5 units of energy come out. it is not a good way of getting the ethanol. with sugar cane, you can get seven to nine times. the sugar cane harvest only needs to be planted once every seven years, whereas corn needs to be planted every year. you use a lot of diesel to plant that. how has that become a viable thing for corn? should we be trying to use sugar cane in the southern part of the state? i mean the country. guest: i cannot speak to the viability of sutter cane in the -- sugar cane in the southern united states. it would be difficult to compete with brazil. you're correct about it vintages of sugar cane. the third advantage is that all of the energy for the production is provided by burning the waste that is left from the sugar cane.

indeed, the sugar mills in brazil even export electricity into the grid. host: in four days, when the new year turns and the subsidy goes away, how much will taxpayers saved? guest: it is several billion dollars. it is not the largest energy subsidy. the no. $4 billion sticks in my mind, but do not go to the bank on that. host: will we see an increase in gas prices? guest: not large, but the price of gasoline will go up. host: there is a tweet. if ethanol can make it on its own, there would be no subsidy. but it cannot, and thus we are subsidizing corn farmers. guest: correct. that issue was raised by an earlier caller. it was two questions raised.

is the mandate cost justified by the environmental goal? and is this a good mandate? host: what do you think? guest: on the second question, is this a good mandate -- and no. but one would not wish to eliminated immediately. on the first, yes. to deal with global warming issues, there has got to be -- the government has to put its thumb on the scale. the choices we have to make to minimize costs do not deal with the problem. host: would you recommend personally a higher percentage of ethanol? guest: not as long as we use corn at the mall. host: -- ethanol. host: why? guest: it only reduces carbon emissions by 30%, with energy used in processing and growing it. and it competes for food.

host: if we suffer a drought or a very bad corn crop one year in the near future, what is your speculation about prices for food and gasoline? guest: well, it will increase gasoline prices. we will have the same phenomenon brazil is now having because of the bad sugar crop, with sugar cane ethanol. it would be an additional factor raising food prices. in the circumstances you describe, food prices would go up more than otherwise because of the demand for corn the tunnel. -- ethanol. host: our next call from this -- comes from virginia, the republican line. caller: you touched on a couple of things, as did one of your previous callers. i am very much opposed to

subsidizing production of ethanol. to sum up the issue -- first of all, it takes more energy, gasoline, to produce a gallon of ethanol. it takes more than a gallon of gasoline to produce a gallon of ethanol. you look at the production process and transportation cost. secondly, we deliver the ethanol product to the retailer because it is much more expensive than to bring it with gasoline. the specific energy of ethanol -- it is lower than the specific energy of gasoline. so a gallon of ethanol does not produce the mileage that a gallon of gasoline does. host: -- guest: with your last

too technical points, you are right. a gallon of ethanol has only about 2/3 the energy of a gallon of gasoline. because it attracts water, you cannot use it in the same infrastructure, the pipelines you use for gasoline and oil products. on the first issue, the result -- the proposition that you put more energy into production ban ethanol -- of ethanol and is produced -- there are some respectable studies that reached that conclusion. my sense looking through the literature is now that the output in energy in the form of ethanol is somewhat greater than the input energy. it is not nearly as good as sugar cane, but there is a net gain of some percentage in the total energy. host: professor, a tweet has come in from iraq.

ethanol can be produced from other crops. we have talked about corn and sugar. some are talking about the waste. guest: in the 2000 legislation, one purpose was to increase use of renewable fuels. the other was to shift away from corn ethanol to cellulosic ethanol, from grass or wood waste. it is not happening. host: why? guest: it is common to use regulation to push developments. you set an aspirational goal. that has worked pretty well in terms of miles per gallon, but that is an engineering task. here, we require scientific breakthroughs, and they have not come. the amount of cellulosic ethanol mandated by the 2007 statute, we are not going to get more than a 10th of that amount, because

the epa has the authority to cut back the standard if it is not there. it just is not there. it will come some day, but requires scientific breakthroughs. host: another tweet. in a perfect world, we would have electric cars, but detroit killed the electric car. guest: i think -- this goes beyond my competence. i think i will take a pass on this. fairfield host:, iowa. -- host: fairfield, iowa. caller: ethanol is mandated as a gas additive instead of nteb, which was produced by oil companies and highly carcinogenic. my other point is i understand it takes 5 gallons of water to produce 3 gallons of ethanol.

i say this as a high water state. guest: you are talking about the mandate to blend ethanol and gasoline. in addition, because of the carcinogenic properties of the additive used previously, ethanol now is being used to essentially add oxygen to gasoline in urban areas that have a smog problem. on the second point, the water -- that sounds right. that is one of the issues with ethanol plants, the production of ethanol. they do have a fairly high demand of water. host: another tweet. sugar beets. know the reason, but the wisdom in the industry is that in the united states, corn is the only commercially

viable way to produce ethanol on a large scale. the negative implication of that is that sugar beets, which we do have in the united states, do not meet that criteria. but i cannot tell you the reason why. host: bob is a democrat in madison, wisconsin. we are talking u.s. energy policy. caller: i have an engineering degree and a doctorate. i have kept my miles per gallon for 40 years with newly purchased cars i carry for long time. my camera this year started getting much lower miles per gallon. i did not know what was wrong. then i brought -- i bought a chevy in april, and could not get to 36 mpg on the road. all i could get was 31 on a trip to kansas and other long trips. then i found out about ethanol in the engine.

it was running a little bit hotter. when we switched to the only gasoline station in madison, wisconsin that is 100% gasoline, we suddenly got 35 mpg instead of 31 mpg on long trips. guest: the two reasons why the ethanol might produce lower mileage -- the first is inherent. the ethanol part of your mixture only has 2/3 the energy of an equivalent volume of gasoline. it sounds like there was a second problem. the ethanol was causing your engine not to operate properly. the first would result in a reduction of your miles per gallon, but not as large as the one you have measured. host: this is an e-mail. i lived in hawaii -- in iowa. ethanol is not popular. it causes the corn prices to

rise. food and meat prices skyrocket. you cannot use it in your car engine, as it will cause the motor to blow up. guest: on the first, certainly the use of corn for ethanol results in higher gas prices. it results in higher food prices. the issue is how much higher. studies i have seen suggest it is a moderate addition to the higher prices resulting from drought, population growth, and rising energy costs. on the second, i do not think that if you were using the ethanol mixture in a recent model cars -- needless to say, it is not supposed to blow up. that is the reason the mixture is now limited to models of 2001 and later. this does not say it never happens. but they have tried to determine whether that would happen.

host: people worldwide are starving as a result of forced ethanol production. guest: it is a solid point. it is adding a non-food demand to stuff that can be used for food. it is aggregating a problem that would exist in any event. host: is corn a fungible commodity like oil? do you grow it specifically for an ethanol plant, or do you grow for food? guest: it is a fungible commodity, traded on the exchanges, a certain grade for a certain product. host: this is another e-mail, from west virginia. the professor qualified his statement saying ethanol reduces greenhouse gas from automobile transportation. my understanding is it does not reduce overall greenhouse gas, because of production. guest: this is a disputed point.

the answer i gave is the majority view. it produces gases in lots of ways -- the fuel for the tractors, the greenhouse gases from the fertilizers that are used, the fuel that is used in the plants themselves. finally, it may lead to land use changes, cutting down tropical forest to make room for crops. there is no doubt it has substantial greenhouse gas emissions. the question is, when you add it up, do you end up with greenhouse gases that are greater than or less than from gasoline? you end up with ones that are somewhat less. host: please go ahead with your question on u.s. ethanol policy. caller: it appears that ethanol has an answer to some of our energy concerns, but is not a

viable answer. it seems to me that with our economic backs against the wall, we need a truly effective energy policy. try to remember back to the 50's and 60's, when we had uninterrupted oil from the mideast, and we had the use of our own coal and our own deposits of gas and petroleum. the economy grew. but the group because we had cheap energy, cheap, uninterrupted energy. and that is what we need now. guest: having cheap, unencrypted energy would help economic growth in the same way the rise in oil prices has hindered economic growth. the problem is that, even apart from institutional problems, unfriendly governments, energy

is never again going to be as cheap as it was. there is only a certain amount of oil from the cheapest deposits, from states that are stable and friendly to us. we are going to be living in a world in which energy is more expensive than it once was. host: dorset, vermont. caller: there are three subsidies for ethanol -- the one the government takes, the price we pay for it when we are told we can have no other kind of gasoline -- there are too. the third is mileage. i had a foreign car, like the gentleman who preceded me. i have the same car. when i was forced to use ethanol in gasoline and not regular, the mileage dropped a number of

miles, sometimes four or five. i think ethanol is kind of a big con job. guest: there is no doubt ethanol is an inferior product in relation to gasoline. it does not have the same energy content. it has properties -- it attracts water, which makes it problematic in automobiles not designed for that purpose. so we are subsidizing an alternative to gasoline that is not a match for gasoline. the long-term goal is to have it drop in biofuel, one which is chemically identical to gasoline. but we are not there at this point with corn ethanol. host: an e-mail -- does our taxpayer subsidy of ethanol get reimbursed by the foreign country to which we send it? guest: the short answer is no. host: a tweet.

asked about the hydrogen fuel cells. guest: the hydrogen fuel cells produce energy more efficiently. the question is how you get the hydrogen. one way to do it is to use natural gas, which can be reformed into hydrogen. when you do that, you have got the energy loss from the preformation of the natural gas, and then the energy lost in going from the fuel cell to spinning the wheels of your car. by the time you have those things, you have not gained a lot of ground on ordinary gasoline. what would be attractive would be generating electricity with renewable fuels, and using the electricity to split water into hydrogen, but we do not have an economical way to take that path yet. host: it is a map of where the by zero refineries are in the united states, -- bio-

refineries are in the united states, centered around the corn-growing areas. caller: how much co2 is produced in the fermentation process? i have not heard that included in any remarks about the use of ethanol. guest: i cannot give you the break down on the point by point, but it is included in the epa -- the epa is required to determine whether a biofuel qualifies for the mandate. it is 20% carbon dioxide for the same amount of energy, in comparison with gasoline. in that analysis, it does consider the carbon dioxide that is given off in the fermentation process, as well as the fuels and fertilizers used in growing the corn used for ethanol.

host: almost out of time. pennsylvania. hello, eric. all right. please go ahead. caller: my question is i understand we are mandated for 10% alcohol. is it going to 15%? the second part is we have an abundance of natural gas in pennsylvania, and for that matter in the whole country. i understand our former fuel manufacturers in fuel -- in foreign countries are using natural gas to burn in their engines. why don't we do that? host: are you still there? go ahead and repeat that. caller: has the mandate from 10% gone to 15%?

guest: a problem is the legislation does not mandate a percentage, but a certain number of billions of gallons. the problem we are confronting rises from the fact that the number of billions of gallons is reaching the point of being difficult to blend into gasoline, consistent with the limit of a 10% or 15% bland. on the second point, yes. natural gas is an alternative for fuel in vehicles. it has its downside for ordinary automobiles, because even under high pressure it has a much lower energy density than gasoline -- indeed, a lower density even then ethanol. it works best for vehicles light buses, that can refill easily. or for taxes, for the same

reason. -- taxis, for the same reason. host: it will take generations to get off of fossil energy. true? guest: that is true. i would add it is not a yes/no question. there is value in reducing our use of fossil fuels, even if the prospect of getting totally off of them lies a considerable distance in the future. host: what are you teaching currently? guest: i just finished grading exams. the spring term, i will be teaching in the law school a general foreign-policy course, and teaching a similar course in the environmental sciences program. host: a climate course? guest: both of them are climate courses. host: when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the u.s. is number one in

contracting, correct? guest: china is now moving well ahead of us. host: but on an efficiency basis, when you looked at it that way, are we more efficient than other countries or less efficient? guest: it depends on how you measure it. if you measure emissions per dollar, then we are pretty efficient. if you measure greenhouse gas emissions per person, we are well up there in the premier league, and well ahead of china. host: because of our production? guest: because of our high living standard. host: palm springs. caller: apparently, we are headed for the next generation of electric cars. that seems to be the future to fix the best in our air. in the meantime, would it be of

benefit for the government to mandate that all cars be a flexible fuel cars? would that help with the transition? guest: not necessarily. i am going to think this through with you. during a i think it was the late were --rly 80's, there perhaps there's still are incentives to manufacture these vehicles. they were manufactured. when a survey was taken, most of them were using ordinary gasoline. you have two problems. one is a flex fuel vehicle, where you no longer have to worry about the blind. the second is to get them to use that bland rather than gasoline. -- blend rather than gasoline. you would have on the road a mixture of vehicles that could

use 85% ethanol, and majority vehicles that could not without serious damage to their engine used more than 10% or 15%. yes, if you want to expand corn ethanol dramatically, flex vehicles, as in brazil, would be the way to go. at this point, we are not ready yet for cellulosic ethanol. and expanding corn ethanol by that magnitude is not something i would recommend. host: gm cars are the only cars i have seen here with a flex fuel sticker. guest: i agree. the only ones i have seen our general motors. there was an incentive for manufacturing them. host: would you recommend expanding corn ethanol at this

point? guest: no. host: why not? guest: it is a bad bargain from the standpoint of the environment, and it involves a competition between food and fuel. one might quarrel about the magnitude of the bargain, but there is no escaping the fact exists. host: thank you for being here. guest: thank you. >> in a minute, mitt romney speaking at a campaign rally in ames. later, from earlier today, rick perry at a meet and greet in cedar rapids, then a michele bachman appearance on a radio program. at midnight, more from the radio program, with ron paul.

>> with the iowa caucuses next week, and the primaries lichter in the month, the contenders looks back at 14 candidates who ran for president and lost, but had a long-lasting impact on american politics. tonight, hubert humphrey's. later, george wallace. then come, followed by ross perot. 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> ben nelson, a democratic senator, is retiring. he is not running for reelection. here he is, talking about his retirement yesterday. >> there is much which must be done to keep america strong. i also feel it is time for me to step away and spend more time

with my family. >> watches appearances dating back to 1991, archive and searchable, on line with the c- span video library. >> middle and high school students, we want you to tell us which part of the constitution is meaningful to you. make a documentary and get it to us for your chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. there is $50,000 and apprises. the video documentary program is open to grades 6 through 12. find the rules on line. >> our road to the white house coverage leading up to the iowa caucuses continues, with republican presidential

candidate mitt romney, speaking at a campaign rally in ames, iowa. we have heard his campaign bus has arrived here. mitt romney plans to end what has been a three day bus tour with a rally in west des moines with governor chris christie. we will have live coverage starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern. here in ames, iowa, we are waiting for mitt romney and his wife.

>> met romney is expected here shortly, in ames, iowa. we have other coverage tomorrow,

including it from me again. he is in west des moines with new jersey governor chris christie. live coverage on c-span to starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern. also here on c-span at 11:00 eastern, newt gingrich will speak at cafe mom. he is hosting a town hall meeting between mothers and newt gingrich at 11:00 a.m. eastern time, here on c-span. tomorrow evening, rick santorum will host a faith, family, and freedom town hall starting at 6:30 eastern time, here on c- span.

[applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪

>> thank you so much. that is quite an entrance, isn't it? don't try that at home, kids. don't try that at home. maybe if i get a little older and do not have such good eyesight, i might try that at home and get in trouble. thank you for being here to welcome me. it is a delight to be here. what a crowd. thank you for coming out tonight. [applause] i have my life partner here, my sweetheart. i knew her in elementary school. i did not really know her, but she was a couple of grades below me. if you're in the fourth grade, you do not even look at somebody in second grade. but when she was almost 16 i was at a party at stu white's house. she was there with some other guy who brought her. i went to the guy and said, "i

live closer to her than you do. can i give her a ride home?" he said sure. we have been going steady ever since. my sweetheart. [applause] >> what a great and warm welcome. we love that. i see a couple of t-shirts from the straw poll from four years ago. that is great. we must have some people who knew as from last time. we very much appreciate it. it is great to be here. we have loved our last couple of days in iowa. every place we have gone has been like this. i think we know why. i think it is because you are all concerned about america. [applause] i think you want to pick someone that is going to beat barack obama. [applause]

the other best part about that is, once he does beat barack obama, he is going to be an awesome president. [applause] he mentioned we have known each other a long time. we have been married 42 years. we have five sons, 16 grandchildren. i can tell you that four of my five sons are in new hampshire today, holding down the fort there while we are in iowa. thank you. it has been great to have boys who are willing to work for us and help us. what happened to the fifth son? he is a slacker. [laughter] >> tell the truth. that is not true. >> he is in residency. he is otherwise occupied. we are grateful that our boys have their own lives and their own wonderful marriages. all of them have children, which is a great blessing in my life. it was not easy raising five

boys. there were times when i wondered what the heck i was doing. there were times when i was so exasperated i really felt like leaving home, i think at times. those boys almost drove me out of the house. and it would call when i was at my wit's end and remind me that my job was more important than his. the true happiness in life was going to come from the work i was doing. we were true partners in every sense of the word. i appreciated that when he was a young man, young in his profession, that he had his values and priorities right. we are going to need that in the white house, so i cannot wait to see the job he is going to do to turn this country around. thank you all. [applause] >> she is the best. well, you know, it was not terribly long ago that she and i were watching our grandkids.

i said to her, "are we going to do to our grandkids what my parents did with their grandkids?" she knew what i was talking about. my parents had 25 grandkids. when a group of them would reach the age of 10, 11, or 12, they would drive them for as long as 30 straight days across the country to see the national parks. i knew what they were doing, because i had been on this trip myself as a boy. when i went in the rambler, of course. the car made it, too. what they were doing was teaching my kids to love america. they wanted them to see the beauty of this country, and to see the mountains and the canyons and the rivers, the sequoias and the oceans. between stops, they would tell us about the fan of the country. the would read about the women and men who dreamed and created

this extraordinary country, and fell in love with america and the american dream. i love the songs of america, our patriotic songs. when i had the chance to help organize the olympic winter games, it was only our athletes who, when they won a gold medal, put their hand over their heart when the national anthem was being played. no other nation in the world has a tradition, that i know of. fdr began that tradition. he asked us to put our hand over our heart in recognition of the blood being shed by our sons and daughters in foreign places. we are a patriotic people. another song i love -- o beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. if corn counts as amber waves, we have it right here. it does. another verse goes "oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating

strife," our men and women in uniform. veterans in the audience tonight, thank you for your service. [applause] there is another interesting verse. it goes like this. oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years. the idea was that the dreams of the patriots, the way they crafted this country, what they built with our founding documents was not something just temporary, but would continue into our time. i believe in the principles the founders put in place, and the documents they wrote. the have permanence and relevance, and significance for us, and i do not want to stray from them. i love those documents. what made america an extraordinary land was not our dna. it is like other people around the world.

it is those principles. the founders have this extraordinary revelation, a thought. we should change the way the government is organized. instead of the king and the government being sovereign, we will let the citizen be sovereign. that has changed the world. they had another thought. we are going to let people choose their own course in life. we will not only have political freedom. we will have economic freedom. they rode in the declaration of independence that the creator in doubt as with our rights, not the government, certain inalienable rights -- among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. what does that mean? the recognized that in america we would be free to pursue happiness as we chose, not as the government told us, not limited by the circumstances of our birth. those freedoms, that opportunity nation that was defined by the

founders, meant that people from all over the world wanted to come here. this was the land of opportunity. they did come here for centuries. it has made us who we are, men and women of passion and vision who are willing to take risks and dream, a land of liberty. sometimes, i do not think our president understands that. i think he wants to change america. this is not an election to change presidents, it is an election to save the soul of america. [applause] the policies of our president are making us more like europe, with bigger government, more intrusiveness in our lives, massive regulations, extraordinary debt burdens -- i do not think europe is working in europe. i do not want europe here.

[applause] ours was formed as an opportunity nation. people, based upon their hard work and education and risk- taking and dreams, could achieve great things. by the way, as they did that, that did not make the rest of us poor. the dreams of our dreamers, those who built the enterprises, these things do not make us poorer. they make us better off. they employ us. we welcome and encourage success. that is the course i believe in. the president seems to believe we should change to become an entitlement society, where government takes from some to give to others in the name of a quality. that has never worked anywhere in the world. it has never lifted people out of poverty. only free enterprise and freedom have done those things. i want to keep america america.

it is not government that is our answer, it is free american people pursuing their dreams. [applause] you have heard him, you have heard the president. people who believe in big government trying to drive our lives. they end up dividing americans. they try and substitute and the for ambition. -- envy for ambition. they poison the spirit of america and that in the unity of one nation under god. i love this country. i want to do whatever i can to get america growing again for the middle class that is struggling. middle income families having a hard time. the median income under president obama, down 10% in america. the cost of gasoline and food

goes up. 25 million people out of work or stop looking for work. housing values them. -- down. policies, they are not working. i spent my life in business. i have only spent four years in government. [applause] i am still a business that. i am a father and a husband and a grandfather first. i love america. i know what it takes to get us wrong again. i know what it takes to make our economy so powerful that we can have confidence that our kids future will be better than our past. i will make america strong again by making america the best place to be middle class, the best place for job creation, the best place for people to build

businesses and grow businesses. [applause] i have confidence all that is going to happen. i watched the president, he says, it could have been worse. that goes down with, let them eat cake. americans believe it can be better. i have confidence in the future. i am not a pessimist. i have confidence in the future of americans. i have met people all over the country. what a thrill this is. i did not know i was going to run for president. i get to meet people. it makes me shore their future is bright. we are the most innovative people in the world. we still lead the world in productivity. odierno the average income of an american is 50% greater than the average income of a european? my confidence flows from the fact that we are a patriot act people. we love america.

-- a patriotic people. we love america. i want to tell you an experience that is one of my favorites. it was at the olympics. i had the chance to help organize the winter olympic games in 2002. what an experience that was. what a thrill. at the closing ceremonies, the vice president asked me if i would choose one athlete to sit with him in the president's box. i chose derrick. he is 5 foot 4 inches tall, hispanic, he is a roller blade. there are no olympic events in roller blading. he put on skates. he skated his heart at, crane, and found that he was fast. he worked at it, and became a member of the u.s. speedskating team. he got himself a silver medal

and then a gold medal. the fastest man in the world on skates. can you imagine being the best at anything in the entire world? i invited him to come into the president postbox. i said, derek, before you sit down, what was the most meaningful experience in the olympic games? it was not the silver medal, the gold medal, he said it was being honored to carry in the american flag that had flown above the world trade center into the opening ceremony. [applause] he said, he said, we had expected when it was announced that it was coming into the stadium that the audience would burst into tears. instead, total silence. complete reference. -- reverence.

we stopped in front of the choir. they perform the national anthem. it was hard holding on to my emotions while they were singing those words and i was holding that flag. then acquired it's something we did not expect. i knew it was coming. i got to choose the version of the national anthem they sang. i chose a version from a 1930's. you repeat the last line as a second time. the sopranos go up. and the land of the free the home of the brave. as they sang it, a gust of wind blew on the flag. it lifted it in our hands. it was as if the men and women who have sacrificed their lives

had blown into that flag. he said the tears began running down my face. as he told me that story, the tears welled in my eyes. the people of america love this country. we love the principles upon which it was founded. we are a free nation, an opportunity nation. we do not want to become like europe. we want to instill a confidence in the future. if i become your president, i will do everything in my power to restore those principles, not to transform america into something new, to bring america back to the principles that made us great. i love this country. i love the vision of the founders. i love the patriot dreams. i will do everything in my power to bring those dreams to reality. thank you so much. it is great to be with you. [applause]

hi, how are you guys? good to see it. how are you? are you friends? arguses this? all right. how are you? how are you? good to see. i appreciate you being here tonight. how are you doing, but it? good to see it. the front row. how are you? i have a whole website that will describe my plan. i am giving a speech. hi, how are you? thank you for being here tonight. i will repeal obamacare. let's take responsibility again. hi, how are you? it is good to be back.

>> nice to see you. >> thank you so much. you are very kind. i will do it. thank you. i appreciate your being here. how are you? good to see it. thank you for being here? >> will you do me a favor? we lost a picture. we knew you back in michigan. tiger" playing] your dad was a mistake president. >> what a great guy. -- was at my state president. >> what a great guy. i am sorry for loss.

thank you. thank you. >> [inaudible] >> really? >> i took a picture of him at the world series. i cannot find it. it is very cool. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. hi, how are you? good to see you guys. how are you? [laughter] hi, how are you? good to see you. hi, how are you? good to see you. ♪

>> i told my son that you were here last time. this one here is for me. >> what is your name? >> [inaudible] you were in iowa last night. >> thank you for your help. hi, how are you? >> good. >> good to see. you. [laughter] thank you. [indistinct chatter] whose is that? thank you.

♪ thank you. [indistinct chatter] whose is that? is that yours? hi, how are you? >> we went to high school. >> that is right. of woodward. thank you. thank you for that. thank you for being here. >> i think we have made up our

minds. >> thank you. good to see it. thank you so much. hi, how are you? good to see you? >> how are you, sir? >> thank you. how are you? you are very kind. good to see you? good to see you. how are you guys doing. ? thank you for coming by. >> to my wife get her picture with you? >> you bet. here we go. here we go. thank you. >> beat obama.

>> we will do that. thank you. thank you. how are you? >> you were worried about europe? >> hi, how are you? >> the question is -- >> i say what i believe. i have no idea where the votes are. >> can i get a picture really quick? thank you so much. >> thank you. you bet. >> what do you think? >> he is going to win. >> everybody hopes so. thank you so much. i appreciate your service. thank you. how are you doing?

good. good to see it? you. they are taking care of you? thank you so much for being here. thank you. >> that is okay. [indistinct chatter] >> thank you so much. how are you? >> i was wondering if you could sign this for my son. thank you very much, sir. >> hi, how are you? good to see you. >> thank you. >> thank you.

♪ [indistinct chatter] >> i got it. [cheers] >> i did not know she was going to do that. >> thank you. >> remember? >> all my business. oh myh we had some -- goodness. i wish we had some tonight. thank you. thank you. how are you doing? great. >> thank you for signing my

white's shirt. she liked that. >> that is a great picture. you would two hours late. you work two hours late -- were two hours late. you were two hours later. it is hillary's fault. that is what she says. [laughter] good luck to you. [indistinct chatter] [laughter] >> how are you doing? good to see you.

i appreciate your service. >> a navy seal right now. >> he served, i did not. >> i imagine it is tough going. >> thank you so much. good luck to you. >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you. >> wow. thank you. hi there. thank you. thank you. thank you. >> i grew up in a two rambler family.

>> me too. [laughter] hi, how are you? >> we are counting on you. >> thank you. thank you. hi, how are you? >> hi. >> high. . you bet. hold on. [indistinct chatter] that works. that works. >> thank you so much. >> hi, how are you? good to see you. that works. >> it is your time. god bless you. you?i get a shot with the d >> you have a camera? >> yes.

i am a blessed man. >> hi there, how are you? thank you. >> mr. romney. ? >> thank you. that works. oh my goodness. isn't that something. you are married? >> yes i am, sir. we are depending on you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. that is okay. i have one. thank you. chatter]ct

thank you. thank you. thank you. >> [inaudible] my mom is a big fan. >> that is great. [indistinct chatter] thank you. thank you. thank you. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, you a very kind. -- are very kind.

there we go. thank you. >> good luck. >> thank you. >> we met a the years ago. >> good to see you. >> good to see you again. >> thank you. >> i cannot vote for you but if i could i would. [inaudible] good to see you. >> thank you. how are you? good to see you. >> i have a question for you. [inaudible] when did it start? what they going to do?

-- are you going to do? [inaudible] >> you are going to talk about the standard? >> silver. [inaudible] >> the funny thing about the gold standard -- they can and they did. >> we need to reestablish the situation. >> high. -- hi. [indistinct chatter]

thank you. [indistinct chatter] thank you. thank you so much. take care. >> thank you. >> i hope that works. [indistinct chatter] thank you. thank you. thank you. hi there. nice to see it. what is your name? -- see you. what is your name?

[indistinct chatter] great. [indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter] [laughter] [indistinct chatter] >> of five people at home -- fire people at home? i cannot stand it. thank you. >> thank you. >> [inaudible]

>> and will take a look. [indistinct chatter] thank you. >> [inaudible] that is my name. >> you are a guide. -- the guy. that is amazing. [laughter] thank you. thank you so much. [indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter] ♪ >> thank you. >> [inaudible] i know that. [inaudible] thank you. >> thank you. thank you, i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> you a very kind. good to be here.

thank you so much for that. [laughter] you are a pro. how are you doing, but it? -- buddy? thank you. hi, how are you? really? hey buddy. it did not think i'm going to dive for it. [laughter] do i not wish? thank you so much. good to see it. come back. i appreciate it very much. hi, how you? good to see it? >> my name is pilot. >> good to see it. -- tyler. >> good to see it. thank you.

-- you. thank you. you bet. [indistinct chatter] that works. thank you. you bet. [indistinct chatter] hi, how are you? good to see you. >> [inaudible] >> you want me to do that? >> devin a? -- governor? >> it will be hard to sign like that. >> thank you so much. we are working hard for you in des moines. >> thank you for all your work. thank you.

usenet the photoperiod -- you snap the photo. thank you, i appreciate it. say hi to your wife. how are you? [laughter] thank you. good to see you. thank you. that works. thank you. thank you. [laughter] [indistinct chatter] >> you want me to turn around? >> that is pretty good. you bet.

>> ways surprised by that poll? -- were you surprised by that poll? >> i am just hoping to do well. hi, how are you? thanks. >> hi, governor. >> i hope that works. thank you. how are you? good to see you. >> it is a miracle. >> thank you. hi, how are you doing? [indistinct chatter] i did not know. >> good luck to you. >> thank you.

>> she is a of a little shy. >> good to see you. you are a beautiful girl. hi, how are you? >> [inaudible] >> good to be back. >> can i get a picture? i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> that is good? >> oh, yeah. >> what is your name? what? [indistinct chatter] how are you doing? good to see it? good to see you guys? -- good to see you.

good to see you guys. how do we do that? i was due to appear. -- will scootch out of here. thank you so much. thank you. >> sorry. >> it is all right. [indistinct chatter] >> ready? >> there you go. >> let me get my cell. you good? all right. >> thank you. [indistinct chatter]

thank you. >> get in for a picture. [indistinct chatter] >> in good to see you. -- good to see you. thank you. [indistinct chatter] >> we got it. we got it. >> thank you. we have to get to des moines. we have to get going. thank you. thank you. how are you? [indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪ [indistinct chatter] thank you. thank you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >> we have to get going. sorry, guys. [indistinct chatter] >> west virginia. [inaudible]

[indistinct chatter] [baby crying] >> thank you. >> you are my guide. -- guy. >> thank you. >> i know. >> thank you. >> we are going to put you there. >> thank you. you are very kind. how are you doing? good to see you. >> we have to get running. >> merkel marijuana, what is your stand on it? >> i am not in favor. i am not in favor of the legalization of marijuana. hi. [indistinct chatter] -y-l-e?

>> yep. thank you so much. >> good to see you. >> we will be covering the campaign every day leading up to tuesday's caucuses. we will hear from -- or from mitt romney tomorrow in des moines. he will be joined by chris christie. we will bring that to you live starting just after 9:00 a.m. eastern. [indistinct chatter] >> hi. [inaudible] >> particularly in the house. we do get a few of them. not as many. >> they have been able to work with some of the democratic leaders. they are trying.

[inaudible] [laughter] >> he is a tough one. i was lucky in my state because while i had a democratic -- most of the leaders were willing to work. they did not want to raise taxes. they did not want to hurt people. even though we came from different places politically, recovered common ground. -- we covered common ground. >> great to meet you. >> thank you. good to see you again. you guys do a good job at the caucus. >> we will. >> thank you. i am counting on you guys. thank you. [indistinct chatter]

>> as mitt romney talks to a few more iowans, he is planning to end his bus tour with a rally in iowa with chris christie. we will have live coverage of that on c-span to starting just after 9:00 a.m. eastern time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [indistinct chatter] >> with the iowa caucuses tuesday, january 3, our cameras are following events throughout the state. every morning, a political guests are taking a call on our "washington journal" program.

you can also stay up-to-date with the c-span website, with new features. with by no intermission and phidias from campaign stops. it lets you see what the campaigns -- what the candidates have said. read what the candidates, reporters, and people like you are saying. all on c-span.org/campaign2012. >> tomorrow, more road to the white house coverage starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern. newt gingrich is with frank lutz. you can see the rally live here on c-span. tomorrow, rick santorum told a town hall meeting. 45 miles up side of des moines. you can see it live here on c- span starting at 6:30 p.m. eastern. the vice chairman of the

democratic national committee held a press conference to discuss why the party believes mitt romney is the wrong choice for america. this is about 15 minutes. >> when are we starting? are we good? my name is keith. i am a student. i am here to address you about the growing concerns i have about mitt romney's presidential candidacy. i should be back home for the break. i made the decision to stay. young voters need a voice in this election. voters across america will decide about mitt romney's candidacy. his moral responsibility into the rhetoric does not match with

reality. yesterday, he said, i am not going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. the fact is, his tax plan will result in $6.50 trillion in deficit. that is a deficit that would lead to disastrous consequences for my generation. in new hampshire, when a student asked him about rising college tuition, romney said the problem would work itself out. he is out of touch. wow college degrees remain the most important step to getting a good paying jobs, the cost keeps rising. two out of the graduates are burdened with an average debt of $25,000. that is changing because of president obama's doubling the size of grants pa. as a result, students are paying less for college than they did with the president took office.

romney knows that middle-class families -- they would see a 17- year political career of waffling and decisions that have led the middle class behind. the continued support of policies -- they would see the effort to rewrite history so that i will's working families do not realize how out of touch he is. president obama's landmark health-care reforms are helping millions of americans to finally get affordable, quality health care. this year, because of the president of the reform plan, to 0.5 million young americans now have coverage. mitt romney has vowed to repeal health reform. he talks about moral responsibility. how moral is it to repeal health care coverage? for today's young americans, romney would create a path for the middle class.

he would put the burden for tax cuts on the wealthy on the back of my generation. i would like to introduce you to the vice chair and thank him for coming to ames. >> thank you. you can stay up here with me. four years ago i came down to iowa and did what a lot of people did. we went door to door, listening to islands about what they thought they needed. they asked us -- to iowans about what they thought they needed. they asked us some tough questions. they wanted to know who was going to get as of of the war in iraq? they wanted to know if anyone would take on a complicated issue that they knew was a huge problem, health care reform. they asked as the tough question. what happened in that time is barack obama went door to door and listen to iowans talk about

their future. we are coming back four years later. we are saying, we were able to deliver on the biggest thing they wanted, which was kicked out of the war in iraq. we were able to have a president who had the guts to take on health care. more important than ever, from the beginning of his term to right now, the president has been focused on the middle class. if you ever wanted to see the contrast between that president, who was propelled by iowa, and a republican field, i want you to think about what is happening in washington over the past month. you have not heard a whole lot about it in iowa. if you were ever wondering if the republican party was going to stand up for the middle class, you knew that what happened in washington clarified all of that. what happened was the president stood up for a middle-class tax cut. the republican party fought every way they could to prevent that from happening.

they did not want to give a tax break -- raise taxes. we saw what played out was a mirror of what would happen in the next four years. we can either go back to president obama's view of what should happen in washington, which is to stay with the middle class, or we could go back to the policies of the bush administration, which is what you heard from the republican party. i have been struck by these debates. i have been a to a lot of them. we have heard the same thing over and over. a lot of rhetoric, the streamlined -- through line is they want to go back to the strategies of george bush. they have said what we need to do is cut taxes for those at the top and and remove any oversight. that was the strategy of george w. bush. how is that working out that's

not very well. that is what clout the economy in the first place. that is what -- that is what collapsed the economy in the first place. that will not work. the bush economy collapsed because it was focused on tax breaks for the very wealthy and removing oversight. when the president took office, we were hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month. now we have 21 straight months of job growth that is the strategy we need to move forward. it has not been easy. it has been tough choices. think about the contrast between what these candidates would do and what the president would do. when the president took office, the auto industry was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. the president made a tough decision. he stepped in and took action and help save the american auto industry.

1 million more american cars were sold in this country. a total of 12.8 million cars were sold. romney has proposed that we should have let the auto industry collapse. 12.8 million cars would not have been made in this country. scores of jobs would no longer be here because the economy -- the auto industry would have collapsed. that is not the president we want. the same point about houses and home foreclosures. the economy was in deep trouble with the president took office. it was in trouble because the housing market collapsed. president obama delivered on work to credit to try to prevent foreclosures and turn the housing industry around. the reports we saw the past couple days showed there are beginning to be signs of the industry turning up. caffé hard work with tough decisions. romney's the strategy, we should

let the prices play itself out. what does that mean? that means that president romney would have stood back and but the housing market completely collapsed. that is not what we need -- and let the housing market completely collapsed. that is not what we need. romney talks about the president in remarkable ways. he says the president is out of touch. let's compare these two people. president obama, raised by a single mom in tough circumstances, got himself through college, came out with a big loan, he had great opportunities. he chose to go back to the neighborhoods where people were suffering. he dealt with people who had been victims of factories closing, businesses being closed. barack obama really got his feet on the ground by being connected with real americans.

he can back to iowa four years ago and continued to stay grounded. mitt romney, who claims to be about the real america, did not grow up in it, has not spent his time in it. his career was about reading of the committees for those at the top and while losing jobs for those who are part of working america. if you stop and look at the tax policies, it is the same thing. the drama we saw playing out in washington, with the present fighting tooth and nail, while mitt romney and the entire president field said nothing to protect the tax cut the middle class needed. the extremists continued to drive their party of the deep end. we heard a deafening silence from the republican candidates who tried to pretend that they're going to stand up for the middle class. where were they? where were with a this past month?

-- where were they this past month? thank god they had president obama. we are here in iowa to do what we did four years ago. the president got elected, not by having campaigns through sound stages, but by going door- to-door. we continue to do that. there is one campaign that has had a grassroots effort all the way through this. that is president obama's campaign. he has more field offices than any republican candidate. next tuesday, after the caucuses, we will still have those offices. we will still be doing what the president obama into the office in the first place, going door to door, ringing the doorbell, listening to iowans. making sure we have a government that stands on our side. with that, we want to see if anyone has any questions and

thank you all very much. any questions? >> [inaudible] >> mitt romney is leading the polls in iowa and new hampshire. he is the clear favorite here. it is presumed by mitt romney, who said anything less than a win would be a big loss, he has taken it for granted. the polls show him ahead. if he happens to lose in iowa after leading in the polls, after the rest of the field seems to have collapsed around him, if after having spent millions of dollars on his own to attack everyone else, if he does not come through, i will spend plenty of time talking about another candidate. mitt romney is the clear front- runner. he has spent the money to do that. if he does not come through,

then we will talk about other candidates. i am happy to talk about any of them. according to mitt romney, who declared anything less than a win would be a big loss, is clearly the focus. with that, we want to thank you. it is great to be back in iowa. thank you for your work. casey is a great example of why we are so cut of the folks who campaigned for the president. it was not just about when all the cameras were here. you of doing the private work. we have seen people do amazing work, door-to-door, getting their work done. that is what the president got -- that is what got the president elected in the first place. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> the iowa caucuses are four

days away. republican presidential candidates are crisscrossing the state leading up to tuesday. next, a look at news coverage from des moines. >> michele bachmann's organization and plenty of questions five days before the caucuses. >> the iowan who served as state campaign chair has defected. michele bachmann claims there is more to the switch. in a caucus cycle when a high percentage of voters cannot decide who to support, michele bachmann's on state director change allegiances last night. >> he was with me at my campaign stop. told all of our campaign he was on board. then he went and announced he was going with ron paul. >> tonight has been tough with me. i have been serving as michele bachmann's state chair. when the republican establishment is going to become

an against him, i thought it was my duty to come to his aid. >> michele bachmann claims his fuel -- his move was not fuelled by duty but by money. >> he had told me that he was offered money, a great deal of money from the ron paul campaign and that is why he was leaving. >> ron paul did not respond and ignored questions about it afterward. we were told he is not a sellout. >> that conversation never happened. as much respect as i have for michele, that did not happen. >> either way, one of the biggest political backers is gone days before the caucus. >> the last thing you want or need is for any kind of suggestion that your campaign is collapsing. >> political experts it -- wonder if that is happening. >> michele bachmann wants to make president obama a one-term

president, the iowa caucuses may make michele bachmann a one-time candidate. >> we tried to ask how much he is getting paid. we did not get an answer. paul's campaign said another person lost a job. all this comes against -- comes five days before the caucuses. >> thank you. >> rick santorum is riding high thanks to the new top tier status he has gained. we told about the cnn-time magazine poll. he was campaigning in eastern iowa. santorum says his campaign is digging in at just the right time. >> i say the same thing. when the people of iowa make the

decision as to who they believe should step forward in this process. >> when you are a top tier candidate, you are bound to catch more heat. rick perry took aim at present form. >> he is a good man. when he talks about fiscal conservatism, i am left scratching my head. i go, he is a prolific in marker. -- ear-marker. i love iowa pork. i did not like washington pork. >> the new stops, all boil down to attracting votes. this is the place where those votes will be counted. it has been set up at the convention center in downtown des moines. it is ready for a busy night next tuesday. >> c-span comes to town and stays. we caught up with the c-span bus. c-span is brin i